I'm pondering the concept of Credential. The reader might well misunderstand how I use the word. In secular culture (and in church culture as well) Credential relates to ones education and experience. When you apply for a job the interviewer will critique your credentials. Do you have the right education? Do you have adequate experience in the associated field? If these elements are not in line you probably won't get thru the door. One must take great pains to prepare his/her credentials for their pursuit.
The Kingdom of God seems to be different. Jesus chose fishermen, tax-gathers, and other common men to launch His Kingdom. The Pharisees would later marvel at these men because they understood Jesus' followers had no secular credentials. God designed it that way. Paul informs us God intentionally selects the simple & base thru whom to reveal His glory. There can be no human boast because we, like those early followers, know our own weakness. New leaders are emerging that don't fit the secular/religious paridgm. You are one.
We all have credential. By that I mean we all have a sphere of influence. Each of us are stewards of both a unique story and a unique collection of relationships with whom we communicate. We must all learn to be faithful to share the hope that is within us in our given sphere. Jesus taught us that if we were faithful in little things He would entrust us with much. If we are faithful in our current sphere it will grow.
At this moment in history God is choosing simple men and women to advance His kingdom in simple ways. Don't be intimidated by anyone else’s credentials. Your story is your credential. Be faithful with it and God will use you in a powerful way!
Mickey
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Amen!
2 Cor 3:1 ARE WE starting to commend ourselves again? Or we do not, like some [false teachers], need written credentials {or} letters of recommendation to you or from you, [do we]?
2 Cor 3:2 [No] you yourselves are our letter of recommendation (our credentials), written in your hearts, to be known (perceived, recognized) and read by everybody.
2 Cor 3:3 You show {and} make obvious that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, not written with ink but with [the] Spirit of [the] living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
2 Cor 3:4 Such is the reliance {and} confidence that we have through Christ toward {and} with reference to God.
2 Cor 3:5 Not that we are fit (qualified and sufficient in ability) of ourselves to form personal judgments {or} to claim {or} count anything as coming from us, but our power {and} ability {and} sufficiency are from God.
2 Cor 3:6 [It is He] Who has qualified us [making us to be fit and worthy and sufficient] as ministers {and} dispensers of a new covenant [of salvation through Christ], not [ministers] of the letter (of legally written code) but of the Spirit; for the code [of the Law] kills, but the [Holy] Spirit makes alive. Amplified
I was told when God called me to ministry only one thing...
Luke 19:30 Telling [them], Go into the village yonder; there, as you go in, you will find a donkey's colt tied, on which no man has ever yet sat. Loose it and bring [it here].
Luke 19:31 If anybody asks you, Why are you untying [it]? you shall say this: Because the Lord has need of it.
Luke 19:32 So those who were sent went away and found it [just] as He had told them.
Luke 19:33 And as they were loosening the colt, its owners said to them, Why are you untying the colt?
Luke 19:34 And they said, The Lord has need of it.
Never mind that if I read it in the KJV I would be compared to an ass, but God does have a sense of humor!
The Lord had need of me. That's all that matters.
Steph
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